Aftermath
by The Real Fanboy
Summary: The dust has settled, Judy and Nick have been taken to the station after their ordeal with Bellwether. Now that they're by themselves, they finally have time to talk about all that left unspoken in the rush of things before. - Third part in the "Parts of a Family" series. Next part is Stranger at Home, previous part is Looking for Nick.


Being back at the police station had an eerie touch to it. The walls still had the same color. Each potted plant was at its place. Thaisone lamp in the hallway still flickered and clinked with everlasting persistence. Still, one thing had changed.

This time, she was the victim. Even with a wound to show for it, heavily bandaged and professionally treated. She could still feel the faint dint of canines at her throat. Nick had been gentle-it had been for show, after all-yet he did make it look real. She was huddled in a blanket, rolled up into ball of fleece and fur. Only her head popped out of it, leaning against Nick's shoulder.

The fox had his blanket loosely flung around him. He did his best to look unfazed. But in their short time together Judy had learned to see beyond that. It was not his unconcerned smile that spoke of his true feelings. His eyes were a different matter. They were exhausted. Still, his satisfaction was obvious. It was the same glow as a few weeks ago, at that dreadful press conference. Well, before she had ruined it all. Almost ruined it all. As it seemed now, mending things had not been as impossible as her subconscious had insisted.

"Hey, Carrots?"

Nick's voice made her jump a little. "Yes?"

"Thank you."

That was all. He didn't look at her. He didn't move. He didn't change his expression.

"For what?" Judy asked.

"Everything. But especially for coming back to me."

Her ears jolted up. "What? I'm the one who was at fault. You shouldn't be thanking me. I'm the one who needs to thank you for letting me come back after all I did."

"I'm certainly not thanking you for how we parted. But it wasn't the first time something like that happened. Sooner or later, all show their true colors. You're the only one who ever came back and apologized."

"And I'm just glad you accepted that."

"Of course I did. You did so much for me. How should one little slip-up get in the way of that?"

"You call what I said a slip-up?"

"Yeah, at least in hindsight. For one, you said it out in the open. To my face, even. Not whispering behind my back when you thought I'm not listening. The unusual part is you telling me that you were wrong."

Judy felt her ears falling limp again. She stared at the fox by her side, not knowing what to say.

Then he finally turned his head and looked into her eyes. There was a split second of hesitation to him. He blinked, like he had only now realized where he was looking. His smile shifted ever so slightly. For some reason, that little bit made her heart race. At the same time it grew heavier than ever before.

"What's wrong, Carrots?"

She shook her head to clear her mind. "A lot, going by what you said."

"Oh, don't act like this surprises you."

"But it does. Well, not that it happens. Still, if it is that normal to you... To be honest, that scares me. I know there are a lot of problems. But this is beyond my worst expectations."

He laughed. "I don't know if that's sad or adorable."

"Nick, I'm serious here."

"So am I. Don't get me wrong, I wish the world would be like you see it. But reality taught me otherwise."

Judy couldn't stand it. That distant look in his eyes was too much. She clenched her fists under the blanket. "If it's not like I see it, we'll have to make it that way."

"We?"

Judy felt her cheeks grow hot. "Um, yes. That is if you still want to join me. As my partner. At the police, I mean."

His look lingered on her for a few seconds. "Sure, Fluff. I'd be glad to be by your side. At the police, I mean."

His smile was back. The smile that felt more like an armor to Judy. But the look stayed.

"Nick..." she started, but he interrupted her.

"So, do you still have that application form?"

"Yeah," she answered. "But it's in my room, back at the farm. I didn't really think of bringing it along."

For just a moment, his armor cracked and let through a glimpse of honest surprise. "You really kept it? I was just kidding."

"Of course I did. To remind me of you and the biggest mistake I ever made. And by the way, you kept my pen."

"Um, yes, of course," he coughed. "That is a valuable tool. And..."

"And?"

"And I wanted something to remind me of you. Of the time we had."

Judy looked down at where she felt her paws under the blanket. "Even though I forced you into it?"

"I don't blame you for that. Didn't really give you a choice, did I? Speaking of that, why didn't you ever tell me what all that was really about?"

Judy blinked in confusion. "But I did. Right when I stopped you. I even showed you Mr. Otterton's photo."

Nick struggled to keep a straight face, but soon gave up. He laughed from the bottom of his heart and shook his head. Between, he gasped: "Of course you'd say that."

Judy didn't see what was so funny

Taking another look at her, he took a few breaths to calm down. Wiping a tear away, he said, "Why didn't you ever tell me your job was on the line, what that buffalo was putting you through?"

"Because that didn't matter. I promised to find Mr. Otterton. With or without that agreement, I wouldn't have done things any other way. Besides, you told me you just wanted to see me fail. What difference would that have made?"

Nick sighed. "None. Not at that point, anyway. And that's why I guess I need to apologize to you, too. Or should have a long time ago, but... Anyway, I am sorry for being that way."

Judy smiled and put her paw on his arm. "Don't worry, Nick. You speaking up for me was apology enough."

He shook his head. "It's the least I could do. The one thing I had to do. The way they treated you, that was the junior scouts all over again. And I was part of them. I said the same stupid things they were all thinking. I tried to drag you down because you had what I've been denied ever since. I might as well have just pushed you down for them to muzzle you. After all those years, I had become the bully. As long as that is on my slate I don't think I can... Move on."

"Nick, I don't blame you for any of that. After all, I never stopped and tried to see beyond the surface. I only saw that shifty fox my parents had shown me since I was a kit."

"You have no idea what hearing that means to me." For a second, his smile flickered with gratefulness. "But still, that you never made this about you, that's so... so... Well, different from what I'm used to. So you. Call me cheesy, but that gave me something I didn't have in a long time."

"A good laugh?"

"No, hope."

Judy giggled. "Okay, that is cheesy. I didn't think I'd hear something like that from you."

"But it's true. I heard a lot of mammals talk big and preachy. You're the first I've seen acting on their sermon."

"Sermon?"

"You know what I mean. What I'm trying to say is, you're the first I've met who I feel safe around. Somebody I can truly trust without any doubts."

"Really? What about Finnick? He seemed to be quite, how should I put it, protective of you."

To Judy's surprise, Nick's smile now vanished completely. He just stared at her with a cocked eyebrow. Then he took a deep breath. "Yeah, he is a great guy and certainly reliable. But do you really think I swing that way?"

"Swing?" Judy swallowed, her cheeks growing hot again. "No, I didn't mean... Um, why would you even think I think that you..." She blinked as a realization set upon her. "Nick, what are you getting at?"

He rubbed his forehead. "Really, Carrots? Do you need me to say it out loud? 'Cause in case you haven't noticed I'm not that good with emotions."

"No, I guess you don't..." Her head swirled. Judy had to look at the floor to calm down. She had not expected this. Definitely not. She was absolutely sure of that. But then, why did she feel so happy about it?

For a while, they both sat in silence. Judy could feel his discomfort. The tension of wanting to say just anything, but at the same being too afraid to do so. Her mind raced to come up with something to break this mold. She desperately tried to force her tongue into action.

Her mind still weaving back and forth, she heard Nick say, "I am sorry to drop this on you. Maybe it was unfair, but I just had to get it out."

It was not his voice that pulled Judy out of her state. No, it was his tone. Regret and disappointment burned holes into her soul.

"No, Nick, it's okay," she replied close to desperation. "It's just that, well, I'm surprised and not quite sure what to say. How to react." Then, as she took a breath to calm her mind, one sentence slipped. "Do you think it could work?"

Her own words left her stunned. She cautiously glimpsed up at Nick who stared back with wide eyes.

"To be honest, I don't know," he said. "But I know I'll regret it for the rest of my life if I didn't try to make it work."

A shy hint of a smile spread on his face. One so different from any other Judy had seen from him. It was like it came from a whole different part of his very being. And while it grew, so did Judy's response. She leaned her head against his shoulder once more. As she felt his arms around her, she said,

"You know what? Don't do this on your own. I think we should work on that together."

* * *

Epilogue

There was a squeal splitting the room. Pure bliss echoed from the door. Seconds later, Chief Bogo bellowed through the hallway, "Clawhauser! Get back to your desk!"

A/N:

Yeah, that was an even shorter epilogue to a short story. But I just had to put it there. After all, it was the idea this whole scene stemmed from. Which I had because I wrote something in another story (Dtranger at Home, finally released), which wasn't supposed to be there. A minor side-note that threw my plans for a bit for a loop, made me come up with another story based on it, then didn't make it into said story because it just wouldn't fit anymore now that I'm done. Guess that's how things are going...

Anyway, before the note gets longer than the story, just let me thank you for reading this. As always, any feedback is highly welcome, especially if you got some constructive advice for me to improve my writing.


End file.
